News items from 2009 (first half)
28/06/09: Ian into final, Tim and Ed share league spoils
There are two pieces of Sunday action to report.
Tim Line and Ed Turner fought out a Premier One double header at the Beachcomber, Brean, this afternoon and shared the spoils.
The two one sided matches -- 11-4 to Tim and 11-0 to Ed -- were all done and dusted within an hour and a half.
Tim's win edges him out of the bottom four, while Ed's moved him closer to a similar reward.
Then the focus switched back into Bristol, where the outstanding Lesters 71 semi-final between Ian Tarr and Derek Clew took place.
Ian won this one, 7-0, although the double backgammon that clinched it (from a 3-0 lead) stemmed from an epic back game by Derek that was unfortunate not to bear fruit.
Ian thus earns a final crack at Neil Young, a pairing which scotches thoughts of a Winner Takes All pool rollover.
The winner will earn a place in the 2010 Bristol Masters, while the 30 points for the semi-final win have propelled Ian into second place in the OGP.
26/06/09: JUNE LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
Twenty-three players progressed their respective league campaigns at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
26/06/09: Gaz beaten, but still looks favourite ......
Premier One leader Gaz Owen may have lost his only match of the evening -- 9-11 to Paul Gilbertson -- but with some of his rivals faring even worse, he still holds the whip hand.
Paul's evening had not begun auspiciously when his double header with reigning champion Stuart Mann at Colston Yard ended in a pair of 6-11 defeats, and he broke even on the night with a whitewash of Ian Tarr.
Ian had, statistically at least, looked like Gaz's main title rival, but an earlier loss against Phil Charlton paved the way for a double setback for him.
Apart from Gaz and Ian, the only two players with better than 50% records are now Phil and Steffen Nowak, who began the evening by defeating Phil.
Second placed Peter Edwards slipped further out of the reckoning with a double setback against Simonetta Herrera, while Stuart's revival was pegged back a little by a late defeat at the hands of Ed Turner.
All the race now needs, to throw it all wide open, is for Gaz to falter a little more. Otherwise it's anybody's guess where a challenge might come from.
26/06/09: Cecilia goes second ......
Cecilia Sparke scored her third Premier Two Blue win of the week, defeating Paul Watts to go second overall, in what looks increasingly like a four horse race for promotion.
Leader Simon Hughes shared the spoils with John Paton, who has now won five of his last nine league matches after a disappointing start to his season.
Blaine Buchanan was the evening's other winner in the division.
26/06/09: Marcus in pursuit of Neil ......
As the Premier Two Red league table takes shape, it's difficult to see beyond Neil Young and Marcus Wrinch for the two promotion slots.
Marcus broke even in two hard fought matches against Simon Temme on Thursday, while the player he overhauled for second place -- Steve Morris -- is fast running out of matches to make any further impact.
Richard Owsley, Drew Caudwell and John Lewis also recorded wins.
26/06/09: Malcolm takes advantage of new Conference opening ......
With Conference action hard to come by, Director Ian Tarr yesterday made the decision to allow up to three meetings per pairing, otherwise Malcolm Patterson and Michal Ciupak would have been kicking their heels all evening.
The ruling allowed the pair to contest a gruelling encounter, with Malcolm coming out on top.
26/06/09: Steffen scores a timely win ......
With Cecilia Sparke forgetting to bring the clock entrusted to her for the completion of the June Clock Tournament consolation final, and Director Ian Tarr failing to supply a reserve, Cecilia and Steffen Nowak adjourned to one of her local hostelries, the Coronation, Southville, to get the job done.
And it was Steffen who came through to win the flight.
24/06/09: Cecilia moves closer
A double header at the Rose and Crown, Larkhall, Bath, this evening saw Cecilia Sparke score a useful double over Andrew Cobb.
The brace of victories took Cecilia to third place in Premier Two Blue, just behind Miles Farren on average points difference.
24/06/09: Simon consolidates Handicap lead
Bristol Backgammon found its way to yet another venue yesterday, when the May Handicap Trophy event consolation final took place in the sunshine outside the Old Duke.
And Handicap Trophy leader Simon Hughes consolidated his position by defeating Cecilia Sparke 7-5 from his initial 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile the Monday session at the BCSC failed to attract the minimum number of players to contest the advertised Tric Trac Tourno, so those who did turn up played out an "unofficial" 3-point round robin instead. Neil Young and Roland Herrera split the pot.
19/06/09: Efficiency of tournaments under the spotlight
In a recent message to current tournament players Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has identified key issues for concern surrounding conduct of tournaments, and measures which will hopefully resolve some of those issues.
A proposed clampdown on various forms of time wasting, sanctions designed to forcibly remind players that held over semi-finals and finals need to be resolved in a timely manner, and a return to zero tolerance on the subject of premature part payment of prize money, are all included in the revamp.
A series of conditions over and above the rules for each competition are outlined in the measures. Tournaments directly affected are the monthly Bristol Grand Prix events (incorporating the OGP and the IGP), the Clock Tournament Grand Prix, the Handicap Trophy, and the Consulting Doubles Grand Prix, but the overriding ethos should also apply to all other events.
18/06/09: Michal shoots Conference to victory
The annual Inter League Challenge took place at the BCSC on Thursday evening, and as so often in the past, the outcome proved anything but predictable.
Sixteen players turned up to play, which meant all could be accommodated in a four team format.
While the number of volunteers for Premier One was a convenient four, a little juggling was necessary to bring the other three teams to the same numeric level.
There were only two Premier Two Blue players present, so the over-populated Premier Two Red contingent of six loaned two of their number to their Blue equivalent for the evening. A draw determined that those two players were Simon Temme and Marcus Wrinch.
There had also been concern that the Conference might not muster a team, but their three volunteers were augmented by a "non-league" guest in the form of Roland Herrera.
The first of three rounds of five point matches got under way, and it was Premier One and Premier Two Blue who emerged as the joint leaders with three wins apiece, as compared to their respective opponents -- the Conference and Premier Two Red with one each.
But if it appeared that things were slipping into a fairly predictable pattern, the second series soon put paid to that notion.
Premier Two Blue eclipsed Premier One 3-1, while the Conference added to Premier Two Red's unhappy start -- also winning 3-1.
So the final series arrived with Premier Two Blue in the box seat, with only the "weakest" opponents to face. Surely the title was theirs for the taking?
While Premier Two Red were beginning to find a little form, sharing the spoils with Premier One, the Conference were rallying bravely against Premier Two Blue.
It came down to the last match, with two players fighting for their adopted teams.
A win for Marcus Wrinch would seal the title for Premier Two Blue, while a defeat by Roland Herrera would leave the two teams level in the lead with seven wins apiece.
The Conference's guest came through for his first win of the evening, and the scores were tied.
Would the two teams share the title, or would they find a way of separating themselves? It was decided that the most successful player on each side (two of only three unbeaten players on the night) would play a nail-biting one point shoot-out to decide the issue.
And Michal Ciupak (pictured) held his nerve to defeat Simon Hughes and grab an immensely satisfying victory for the Conference.
Summarised scores:
Teams:
Premier One 3 Conference 1; Premier Two Blue 3 Premier Two Red 1; Premier Two Blue 3 Premier One 1; Conference 3 Premier Two Red 1; Premier One 2 Premier Two Red 2; Conference 3 Premier Two Blue 1.
Players:
Premier One: Ian Tarr 3; Simonetta Herrera 2; Gaz Owen 1; Peter Edwards 0.
Premier Two Blue: Simon Hughes 3; Simon Temme (guest) 2; Ian Preston 1; Marcus Wrinch (guest) 1.
Premier Two Red: Steve Morris 2; Richard Owsley 1; Tony Walters 1; Neil Young 0.
Conference: Michal Ciupak 3; Rufus Rozelaar 2; Roland Herrera (guest) 1; Malcolm Patterson 1.
Tie-break 1-point shoot-out: Michal Ciupak (Conference) beat Simon Hughes (Premier Two Blue).
In other competitions, Neil Young fared a lot better, consolidating his position at the top of Premier Two Red by defeating Richard Owsley, and also reaching the final of Lesters 71 by defeating Simonetta Herrera.
Neil's match with Richard provided the 3,000th league result in the history of Bristol Backgammon.
And Peter Edwards beat Tony Walters in the main final of the May Handicap Trophy event to move into second place in that table.
18/06/09: Gaz's April win in June
The final of the April Bristol Grand Prix event was at last played out at the Lansdown, Clifton, this afternoon, resulting in an 11-8 win for Gaz Owen over Marcus Wrinch.
This was Gaz's second grand prix win this year, and signalled good news for both Simonetta Herrera and John Plummer.
As Gaz had already qualified for the 2010 Bristol Masters, the result guaranteed that no grand prix winner this year will have to sweat on having won the lowest entry event of the year. So both Simonetta and John are now confirmed qualifiers.
And Gaz has now opened up a 47 point lead at the head of the OGP table.
17/06/09: Bristol Open to be sponsored by casinorip.com!
The co-organisers of the fourth Bristol Open -- Roland Herrera and Ian Tarr -- are delighted to announce that this year's event will be sponsored.
The event, which will henceforward be referred to as the Bristol Open 2009, sponsored by casinorip.com, will now be enhanced by added prize money, plus the provision of additional features.
Further, more precise, announcements will appear soon at the event website.
16/06/09: Roland wins ninth Bristol Masters
The long deferred final of the ninth Bristol Masters finally took place at the BCSC yesterday evening, and a hard fought affair between Gaz Owen and Roland Herrera reached 7-7 before a double gammon clinched the title for Roland.
Roland thus becomes the seventh winner of the annual tournament where sixteen players qualify through their efforts of the previous year.
He had also equalled the records for final appearances (two) and semi-final appearances (three).
Earlier in the evening Cecilia Sparke had clinched a place in the consolation final of the most recent Clock Tournament Grand Prix event by pipping Neil Young for a final meeting with Steffen Nowak.
There was also Premier Two action, with Lewis Young moving closer to the leaders of Premier Two Blue after defeating Cynthia Roberts.
Steve Morris moved into second place in Premier Two Red after sharing the spoils of a double header with Richard Holness.
And in the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix session nine players were split into two clock blitz round robins.
The five player version saw Tim Parker and Ian Tarr split the pot with three wins apiece, while the four player group -- bizarrely containing three Youngs -- was won by Neil Young.
Leader Roland was, of course, otherwise engaged, and his lead has been cut by second and third placed Tony Walters and Ian.
12/06/09: ALL THE NEWS FROM LESTERS LXXI ......
The seventy-first Lesters Trophy evening at the BCSC saw twenty-six players in action, including twenty-three in the main event.
12/06/09: Semi-final line-up complete ......
In the seventy-first Lesters Trophy event, the semi-final line-up will be Ian Tarr versus Derek Clew (both of whom came through the long part of the draw), and Neil Young versus Simonetta Herrera.
12/06/09: Stuart takes consolation flight ......
Stuart Mann -- eliminated from the main flight by Neil Young -- powered through the consolation flight, defeating Pete Wright and Steve Morris before despatching Steffen Nowak in the final.
12/06/09: Five in pursuit of Gaz ......
OGP leader Gaz Owen managed a brace of consolation flight wins yesterday evening, just enough to keep him in pole position.
But he now has a posse of five players snapping at his heels, two of whom -- Ian Tarr and Simonetta Herrera -- can add to their scores by progressing from the semi-finals of the main flight.
Of course Gaz still has the opportunity to add to his score, if he and another of his close pursuers Marcus Wrinch ever get around to playing the final of the April GP tournament.
12/06/09: Intermediates draw a blank ......
For the first time in a Lesters tournament since March 2004 the intermediates failed to grab any bonus points for defeating Premier Status players.
Indeed neither of the intermediates brave enough to toe the start line last night -- George Jakeway and Pete Wright -- managed any win, each gaining just their ten points for turning up.
All of which played nicely into the hands of the absent John Plummer, whose IGP lead remains intact.
Given that this competition carries Premier Status for the top two finishers, the lack of activity is all the more surprising.
12/06/09: Rollover hopes high ......
Chances of a Winner Takes All pool rollover are running at approximately fifty percent, given that only two of the semi-finalists bothered to invest in that pool.
Neutrals will be hoping for semi-final successes for Derek Clew and Simonetta Herrera, to ensure the addition of some spice to the July tournament.
Meanwhile Simonetta's and Neil Young's auction investments ensure that both will cash in some way, because they bought each other and meet in the semis.
Others with an auction interest are Stuart Mann and Blaine Buchanan, who bought Derek Clew and Ian Tarr respectively.
Further rewards for the semi-finalists to strive for, apart from the tournament prize pool, are the Sarah Rosich Memorial Cup and a guaranteed 2010 Bristol Masters place for the tournament winner.
12/06/09: Cecilia and Rufus score league wins ......
Ian Preston turned up looking for league rather than tournament action, and made himself useful by collecting the auction money.
He managed to complete his Premier Two Blue encounter with Cecilia Sparke later, failing to recover from the 5-8 adjournment deficit.
The win moves Cecilia up to fourth place, to keep her promotion chances very much alive.
Meanwhile another adjourned match was completed -- the Conference encounter between Malcolm Patterson and Rufus Rozelaar, which stood at 4-4.
Rufus secured a narrow win and now stands top of the league.
12/06/09: Peter and Tony make handicap final ......
There were also attempts to tie up some loose ends from other uncompleted knock-out flights.
The main flight of the Handicap Trophy progressed a round with the completion of the semi-finals.
In the battle of the 2-handicappers Tony Walters defeated Phillip Hill, while Peter Edwards made light of his three points starting deficit to eliminate Tarim.
And the consolation semi-final from last week's Clock Tournament Grand Prix event reached DMP, but was adjourned for the start of the main event, when a word to the TD might have allowed completion.
09/06/09: Successful weekend for Marcus
Marcus Wrinch (pictured left at the event by David Startin) enjoyed a good weekend at BIBA's English Open, in Daventry at the weekend.
While success eluded him in the the main event, Marcus had the compensation of winning the progressive consolation flight, and being runner-up in the Friday warm up event, also pushing his BIBA ranking score up into the 1700's.
09/06/09: Simon goes top
An 11-9 victory over Cynthia Roberts at the BCSC yesterday evening has propelled Simon Hughes to the top of Premier Two Blue. The win was Simon's seventh in succession in the league.
And Rufus Rozelaar played host to Michal Ciupak on Sunday, scoring an 11-10 Conference win to close to within two points of the top.
The latest Monday Club session featured a DMP Tourno, where the honours were shared by Roland Herrera and Tony Walters, maintaining the status quo at the top of the Summer Grand Prix, where Roland leads Tony by more than 30 points.
06/06/09: Cecilia and Simon in final
The line-up for the consolation final of last week's Handicap Trophy has now been decided.
On Tuesday evening at The Apple, Welsh Back, Cecilia Sparke defeated Miles Farren, while the Kensington Arms, Redland, was the venue for the other semi-final yesterday evening.
It was there that Simon Hughes beat Steve Morris.
There are no results to report yet from the main flight semi-finals.
05/06/09: Tim wins a tournament!
It has long been a source of incredulity -- for the man himself, at least -- that Tim Line, despite having won a national tournament (the BIBA Scottish Open, back in 2006), he had not thus far prevailed in the main flight of a domestic Bristol tournament.
Last night that changed, when Tim, the only player to get a bye in round one, defeated Cecilia Sparke, Simonetta Herrera and Ed Turner to take the fourth of our series of eight Clock Tournament Grand Prix events.
Steffen Nowak reached the final of the consolation flight, where he will meet either Neil Young or Cecilia.
The CTGP table is still headed by Roland Herrera, although Simonetta and Tim are now very close behind.
One or two other matches were started and adjourned, but the only result featured first Conference appearances of the season for Anne Foreman (making her league debut) and Rufus Rozelaar (who played a handful of matches last season).
Rufus won the match to move into third place in the still embryonic table.
02/06/09: Inaugural London Open a resounding success
The inaugural London Open, sponsored by casinorip.com was a resounding success at the weekend.
Director Mike Main was pleased with the turnout, which comprised 86 players playing in three distinct categories -- Championship (56 players), Intermediate (23) and Casuals (7).
The venue was Doggetts Coat and Badge, a pub right by the river alongside Blackfriars Bridge, with play in four areas, including a terrace with a fantastic panoramic view along the river.
The outstanding weather was also a huge bonus.
There were ten Bristol representatives there, nine of them in the Championship, the other John Plummer in the Intermediate, where he won the Progressive Consolation flight.
Top performer of our ten was Julian Fetterlein who reached the main final, where he succumbed to Germany's Uli Koch.
Roland Herrera reached the quarter-finals of the main, and went one better in the Progressive Consolation, where he was defeated by flight winner Barry McAdam.
And in the side action Ian Tarr accrued more than enough to pay for his Championship entry and registration.
Elements of Mike Main's report are now materialising at the Backgammon in London website. Keep visiting as more details emerge.
02/06/09: Simon and Roland take Monday honours
The latest Monday Club session, featuring 3-point round robins, saw Simon Temme and Roland Herrera win the four player groups.
Roland now has the lead in the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix after three of the fifteen sessions.
Cynthia Roberts arrived to play in the round robins after a Premier Two Blue defeat by John Paton at Zero Degrees.
01/06/09: Martin expunged from Premier League
With the May 31st midnight checkpoint passed, it has emerged that Martin Hemming has been expunged from Premier Two Red.
In hindsight it was always going to be difficult for Martin to sustain the commitment required to complete the season, given his location and the diminishing frequency of his visits to the South West.
But Martin has always been a staunch and reliable supporter the league in the past, so it was the proverbial nobrainer to allow him to compete again this year.
The effect of his expungement is, of course, the wiping from the record of the six league matches he managed to complete, which means the double headers he played against Mike Smith, Steve Morris and John Lewis are now merely academic as far as the league is concerned, although they do still contribute to handicap calculations.
Mike and John are now shown in the league table with fewer results than the eleven required for penalty avoidance, but since they did, of course, meet that requirement in time for the checkpoint, they are not penalised.
The checkpoint targets now required for the remainder of the Premier Two Red season have been amended to allow for the fact that there are now just eleven players in the division.
Apart from the expungement, progress in both Premier Two divisions has been good, with all March penalties clawed back and no fresh penalties applied this time, after Phillip Hill reported his eleventh Premier Two Blue result -- a 4-11 reverse to Derek Clew at the Lock Keeper, Keynsham -- with just hours to spare.
There are four players who pick up penalties in Premier One, however.
Michael Corbett (with two), Simonetta Herrera, Tim Line and Director Ian Tarr (not setting a very good example!) have penalties which can be clawed back by compliance with the July 31st checkpoint requirements.
01/06/09: Read about our SWAT team!
The outstanding successes of our players in the Intermediates category at Estoril a fortnight ago feature prominently in Peter Bennet's excellent report of the event at the Backgammon in London website.
Look at the central panel, and click on "SWAT Team Storms Estoril Casino!".
No doubt a report of this weekend's excellent London Open will appear at the same location very shortly.
29/05/09: Not a finalist in sight
Neither flight of the latest Handicap Trophy tournament at the BCSC on Thursday evening has yet produced a finalist!
An all-time record of six matches remain to be played after close of play, with the semi-final line-ups completed, and nothing beyond.
The main flight pairings are Tarim versus Peter Edwards, where the handicaps give Tarim a 3-0 starting lead, and Phillip Hill versus Tony Walters, who start level.
The consolation semis feature two other pairs with equal handicaps. Simon Hughes plays Steve Morris, while Cecilia Sparke meets Miles Farren.
Simon holds a narrow lead in the Handicap Trophy table, but despite the fact that there are eight players who can still add points, his lead is threatened -- albeit only by a potential share -- by Cecilia.
John Plummer had earlier completed his remarkable re-entry into Bristol Backgammon competition by winning the outstanding final of the May Bristol Grand Prix, narrowly defeating Steffen Nowak.
Apart from his prize money -- and John did have the foresight to enter the Winner Takes All pool -- John has taken over the lead in the IGP, and has an almost certain place booked for the 2010 Bristol Masters.
The absent Gaz Owen had a good night in Premier One when his two closest rivals for the lead -- Peter Edwards and Ian Tarr -- each succumbed emphatically to Tim Line.
There were wins for Lewis Young in Premier Two Blue and Mike Smith in Premier Two Red.
And in the Conference Michal Ciupak has wrested the lead from Tim Parker after edging home against Malcolm Patterson.
26/05/09: Youngs in league action
All three Youngs in the Premier League were in action at the BCSC this evening.
In Premier Two Blue Lewis Young was defeated by Cecilia Sparke, who thus broke a run of three defeats to ensure she still should have a say in the promotion run in.
Meanwhile Neil Young was maintaining his hot pace at the top of Premier Two Red with victory over Mike Smith, while Todd Young was succumbing to Steve Morris, who continued his best season at Premier Two level by regaining second place at Marcus Wrinch's expense, although Marcus does have five matches in hand.
26/05/09: Neil goes top
Yesterday evening's local derby in Horfield saw Neil Young complete a Premier Two Red double over Todd Young with an 11-6 win.
With three points for the win, plus two points reclaimed from the March checkpoint, Neil takes over at the top of the league from Marcus Wrinch, as the pair appear to be the stand out contenders for the divisional title.
22/05/09: MAY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Only twenty players were at the May league night, and many of the absentees were those with good reason to be present.
22/05/09: Gaz defeats are like buses ......
It was all set up for the magic million. Gaz Owen, with a record eighteen successive wins in contributing competitions under his belt, had the opportunity to reach the magic twenty, with the theoretical odds against the achievement stacking up at 1,000,000 to 1.
Gaz had a double header with Phil Charlton lined up, and the first match -- a very tight affair -- saw Gaz move into a 10-7 lead, just a point away from making it nineteen in a row.
He never got another point, however, and the run was over. Phil then added insult to injury by completing a splendid league double to push on into the top half of Premier One.
Gaz may have been disappointed, but nothing can take away the fact that his winning sequence has been a remarkable and outstanding achievement which -- and it may be dangerous to say this -- is unlikely to be equalled any time soon.
He remains top of the top flight, having reclaimed the three penalty points he incurred at the end of May, with Peter Edwards -- who shared the spoils of his double header against Steffen Nowak -- three points behind.
And Ian Tarr, who has three matches in hand, is a further three points behind after his hard fought victory over Ed Turner.
That win made Ian the third player to become a Premier League centurion, i.e. a player with 100 career wins in that environment.
22/05/09: Simon and Derek push promotion claims ......
Six players did battle in Premier Two Blue on Thursday evening, and the six matches yielded three double winners.
Two double headers saw Simon Hughes getting the better of Blaine Buchanan, and John Paton gathering six much needed points at the expense of Andrew Cobb.
Derek Clew also won both of his matches, and he and Simon -- who now has six successive league wins under his belt -- now appear to be the main challengers to leader Miles Farren.
22/05/09: Marcus goes top ......
There were also double headers in Premier Two Red.
Steve Morris and Tony Walters have been swapping the lead for a while, but they have played more matches than their rivals, and the challenges from Neil Young and Marcus Wrinch were looking ominous for them.
Neil was absent on Thursday, but the threat from Marcus materialised with a vengeance as his double win over John Lewis propelled him to the top of the league.
Meanwhile, in the clash of the Richards, the spoils were shared between Richard Holness and Richard Owsley.
22/05/09: Anne signs up for the Conference ......
There was next to no action in the Conference, with just a part of a match between Anne Ryder and Malcolm Patterson taking place before adjournment.
But there was some good news with Anne Foreman signing up to join the competition, although she was unable to find an opponent on the night.
Anne brings the Conference membership up to eight.
22/05/09: Steffen will meet John in Grand Prix final ......
The remaining semi-final from the main flight of last week's Bristol Grand Prix tournament was played out at the BCSC last night, with Steffen Nowak defeating Malcolm Patterson to earn the right to meet John Plummer in the final.
22/05/09: Penalties, and worse, looming for many ......
With just nine days remaining before the May Premier League checkpoint, many players are under threat in various ways.
The highest risk faces Martin Hemming in Premier Two Red, who needs two results to avoid expungement, and five to claw back the penalty points incurred in March
In the same division Tood Young, Mike Smith and Neil Young all need results to reclaim March penalties.
In Premier Two Blue there are also four players with penalties to claw back -- Lewis Young, Blaine Buchanan, Phillip Hill and John Paton.
In the top flight there are no penalties to be clawed back this time, although there are six players in the three divisions who may incur initial penalties, which could be clawed back by compliance with the July checkpoint.
19/05/09: Neil's run of wins ends
Twelve players were in action at the latest Monday session at the BCSC.
The centrepiece of the evening -- a quick clock knock-out tournament as part of the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix series -- only involved five players -- while others used the occasion for progressing their league and monthly knock-out campaigns.
In Premier One there was a double header featuring league champion Stuart Mann and Michael Corbett, where the honours were shared, Michael winning the first match 11-7, with Stuart prevailing 11-4 in the return. That sixth defeat for Stuart places his title defence in further jeopardy after an uncharacteristic start to his season.
There were also a couple of Premier Two matches played.
In Premier Two Red Neil Young's winning sequence of six came to a halt at the hands of Richard Holness, who has himself racked up a run of four victories in a row.
And Phillip Hill was taking steps to rectify his poor start to the Premier Two Blue season with an 11-9 win over Ian Preston, although he later lost the held over consolation final from last week's Bristol Grand Prix event to Ed Turner.
The clock event was won by Roland Herrera, who defeated Michal Ciupak in the final. Michal, who had taken the allowed Monday Club option of playing for nothing, had defeated Gaz Owen in the semis.
After just two events Tony Walters holds a single point lead over Roland in the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix table.
18/05/09: Bristol successes in Estoril
Our intrepid band of players at the Portuguese Open scored a few successes.
Most went for the Intermediate category, with entry at 225 Euros and registration at 75 Euros.
And Cecilia Sparke fared best of all, reaching the Intermediate Main final, where she lost to her boyfriend Dave Ablett (a k a Dave Moon).
Gaz Owen was the winner of the Intermediate Consolation flight, while Marcus Wrinch won the Intermediate Last Chance, defeating former Bristol Premier League player Rosey Bensley in the final.
16/05/09: John a finalist again
Two appearances in Bristol competitions, eight years apart, have yielded two final appearances for John Plummer.
His held over Bristol Grand Prix semi-final against Ian Tarr took place at the Welsh Social Club, Hereford, this afternoon, and threatened to be a whitewash in John's favour as he raced to a 6-0 lead.
Ian sneaked the Crawford game, won the next to go 3-6, and appeared to be heading for an unlikely victory with a double gammon until a timely (or untimely) double one turned the game on its head.
John will meet either Steffen Nowak or Malcolm Patterson in the final.
And the 45 points John scored in the IGP have moved him to within five points of leader Malcolm.
15/05/09: MAY GRAND PRIX ROUND-UP ......
With several Bristol regulars in Estoril, Portugal, it wasn't too surprising that the turnout for the monthly grand prix tournament was lower than average.
But the nineteen who toed the start line included John Plummer, whose only previous visit was just over eight years ago!
15/05/09: Who will reach the main flight final? ......
Just nineteen players lined up for the fifth of our monthly grand prix tournaments at the BCSC on Thursday evening.
But slow play contributed to the fact that, come the end of the evening, the semi-finals were set aside for another day.
Back in 2001, when the IGP featured separate tournaments, three intrepid travellers made the trip from Hereford to contest the May tournament.
One of those three, John Plummer, made it to the final that day, and on his return to Bristol, he showed his prowess once again in despatching Phillip Hill, Peter Edwards and Tim Parker from the competition.
His semi-final against Ian Tarr is likely to take place at the weekend.
The other half of the draw saw the emergence of Steffen Nowak and Malcolm Patterson into the semis. That match will probably take place next week.
15/05/09: Phillip and Ed in consolation final ......
Phillip Hill and Ed Turner will contest the final of the consolation flight of Thursday's event.
This will probably take place some time next week.
15/05/09: OGP leaders largely unthreatened ......
The top end of the OGP table looks pretty much as it did before Thursday's tournament.
In the absence of three of the top four, Peter Edwards had the opportunity to usurp leader Gaz Owen with even a half decent tournament.
But first match defeats in both flights meant Peter added just the bare minimum ten points to his tally, so he stays second.
The only one of the semi-finalists in a position to change the order at the top is Ian Tarr, who can overtake Peter for second place by winning the tournament.
15/05/09: IGP comes alive! ......
The current dearth of intermediates is exercising the mind of Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr at present, as he endeavours to drum up enough interest to ensure the viability of the Conference League.
While things are slowly moving in the right direction there, with seven players now signed up, the Intermediate Grand Prix table has also been looking a little sparse.
Given the fact that both the Conference and the IGP carry access to the Premier League at the head of their many benefits, the current hiatus is surely only temporary.
There were encouraging signs at Thursday's tournament, as no fewer than six players qualified as intermediates competed.
And it wasn't only the quantity that was encouraging, as five of the six managed to win matches, with two still involved in the main flight semi-finals.
Malcolm Patterson held a 30 points lead going into the tournament, and his run to the semis -- complete with 30 bonus points for his wins over Ed Turner and Simon Temme -- now sees him 55 points ahead of second place.
John Plummer's triumphant return to Bristol has netted him 85 points so far, moving him straight into second, and things could still change at the top with both Malcolm and John in a position to add to their tallies.
The Jakeways -- George and Pam -- also scored wins, although whether the fact that they were drawn against each other in the main flight was a good or a bad thing remains to be seen.
And there were grand prix debuts for Conference players Michal Ciupak and Tim Parker -- Tim faring particularly well, scoring 60 points for third place in the IGP table.
15/05/09: Rollover chances high ......
Only seven players opted into the Winner Takes All pool, and the lower half of the draw was bereft of pool entrants as early as the quarter-finals.
The other half of the draw was different, though, as John Plummer and Ian Tarr ensured that at least one of the finalists will have something extra to play for.
Meanwhile, qualification for the 2010 Bristol Masters remains shrouded in mystery.
The finalists of the April grand prix tournament have still not got around to playing, and of course we don't yet know the winner of the May event.
Furthermore yesterday's entry of nineteen ties with the February tournament as the lowest entry this year, so it's possible that the tie breaker will be called into action.
But since that involves final OGP placings, it's possible that the situation won't be resolved for quite a few months.
12/05/09: Gaz just two away from million to one sequence
A Premier One double header with Steffen Nowak saw Gaz Owen continue his remarkable sequence of victories at the BCSC last night.
His pair of 11-3 wins have made it eighteen in succession in competitions contributing to the Roland Herrera sponsored 1000 to 1 awards.
The conceptual odds for this remarkable feat -- based, perhaps erroneously, on having an even chance in every match -- currently stand at 250,000 to 1, so Gaz's next two matches could take him to the magic million to one mark.
The double success also took Gaz to the top of Premier One, where his winning sequence of nine has only twice been bettered in the entire history of the competition, and he has leapfrogged Stuart Mann to the top of the current Bristol Rankings.
One sided Premier League double headers were the order of the day.
Derek Clew suffered a couple of severe blows to his Premier Two Blue title aspirations when he suffered twice at the hands of Cynthia Roberts, leaving Miles Farren high and dry at the top of the league.
And at Colston Yard Richard Holness succeeded twice against Mike Smith in Premier Two Red.
The adjourned Conference match between Malcolm Patterson and Dean James finished with a narrow win for Malcolm.
And Lewis Young became the first leader of the Monday Club Summer Grand Prix when it got under way with an eight player Tric Trac Tourno.
Lewis pipped his father Neil Young for first place.
08/05/09: Roland wins clock tournament
There were twenty-one players present at the Thursday session at the BCSC, fourteen partaking of a little clock action in the third of the year's series of Clock Tournament Grand Prix tournaments.
Roland Herrera emerged the victor, beating Tony Walters, Lewis Young and Richard Owsley before eclipsing Tim Line in the final.
Gaz Owen beat Miles Farren in the consolation final.
Roland now leads the grand prix, with Stuart Mann and Simonetta Herrera forty points behind.
Stuart and Lewis finished their outstanding Consulting Doubles Grand Prix final, defeating Tim and Anne Foreman to take a joint lead in the CDGP.
And in Premier Two Red there were wins for John Lewis, Simon Temme and Mike Smith.
05/05/09: Simon goes second
Simon Hughes (pictured) scored a double success over Paul Watts at the BCSC tonight, and has leapfrogged Cecilia Sparke and Derek Clew to move into second place in the Premier Two Blue table.
Simon's first year in the second tier, last year, saw him consolidate at the level, but he seems keen to move on and is enjoying his best spell since promotion, having won seven of his last nine matches.
But he is still six points behind leader Miles Farren, who has a match in hand.
01/05/09: Who can stop 64000-1 Gaz?
Gaz Owen (pictured) has rewritten the Bristol Backgammon record books with his recent sequence of results.
The 1000 to 1 awards, which commemorate the milestone of a player's ten or more successive victories in contributing Bristol Backgammon competitions, have been going for a few years now.
Roland Herrera took over the sponsorship this year, having himself set the longest sequence so far (thirteen), little thinking that he would lose his record within a matter of a few months.
As a part of the sponsorship Roland decided he would put up the sum of £50 for the first player to exceed his own sequence.
Gaz had equalled it already before embarking on his Bristol Masters campaign last night, and duly added three more victories, making it to the conceptual odds of 64,000 to 1 for sixteen successive wins!
His wins over Ian Tarr, Tim Line and Simon Baker took him to a final, ironically against Roland, who now has the chance to end Gaz's sequence.
Roland's final place was earned via successes against Lewis Young, Julian Fetterlein and Simonetta Herrera.
A date for the final has not yet been set.
Gaz was one of four Masters debutants -- Julian, Lewis and Derek Clew being the others.
One of Gaz's matches -- the semi-final against Simon -- was doubled up as a Premier One match, so Gaz moved into second place behind Peter Edwards, while Ed Turner had earlier defeated Paul Gilbertson.
There were two double headers in Premier Two Blue. John Paton and Ian Preston shared the spoils of their meetings at the BCSC, while Cecilia Sparke was being dealt a body blow to her promotion aspirations, losing 4-11 twice to Simon Hughes at Zero Degrees. Simon is now on the fringes of the race himself.
In Premier Two Red Neil Young was adding to his outstanding start by beating Simon Temme, who later suffered a defeat to leader Steve Morris.
And the Conference has a new leader in Tim Parker, who picked up where he left off in the adjourned match against Anne Ryder to register a whitewash.
Tim takes over from Michal Ciupak at the top.
29/04/09: Masters just a day away
The ninth annual Bristol Masters, the only tournament in the Bristol Backgammon calendar for which pre-qualification is necessary, is just a day away.
Three of the sixteen qualifiers have cried off -- most notably the current holder, Ann Pocknell -- and three reserves, culled from the higher echelons of the 2008 OGP table, have taken their places.
Further reserves will no doubt be waiting in the wings just in case any of the lucky sixteen fail to show.
The draw at the BCSC tomorrow (Thursday) will be made at 7pm prompt to enable the 11-point matches to start as soon as possible, giving us a chance to get close to a finish.
While the Masters will obviously be the centre of attention, there's nothing to stop non-qualifiers from coming along, either to watch what should be a feast of quality backgammon, or to get in some league or friendly games.
28/04/09: Miles extends lead
Miles Farren scored a narrow Premier Two Blue victory over John Paton last night at Colston Yard to extend his league lead.
Miles has now won eight successive league matches. The other side of the coin, however, is that John has now lost all six of his league matches thus far this season.
28/04/09: Ian wins Spring Grand Prix
The last leg of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix at the BCSC saw eleven players split into two clock blitz groups.
And with the three main contenders for the four-monthly prize all being drawn into the larger group, the opportunities for scoring good points were optimised, while at the same time some spicy encounters were guaranteed.
Ian Tarr (pictured) led the competition at the start of the evening, just a whisker ahead of Roland Herrera, with Gaz Owen just a few points back.
As things turned out this was the finishing order of the top three of the group, Ian taking both the prize on the evening and the grand prix title.
In the other group the honours were shared by Ian Preston and Neil Young, although the final match -- between the two -- gave Ian the chance to win the group outright, which he narrowly failed to do.
Two debut players were also welcomed. Rob Hall and Duncan Way, from Bristol University, both showed themselves to be highly promising players, which makes it all the more sad that they only found us with just a few weeks of their stay at Uni remaining.
Director Ian Tarr is now resolved to pursue links with the student community in Bristol, something that can only benefit Bristol Backgammon and backgammon in general.
There was also a little league action, with Richard Holness securing a much needed Premier Two Red victory over Todd Young, while the Conference match between Dean James and Malcolm Patterson was adjourned because Malcolm needed to follow Newcastle United's bid for three points against Portsmouth, a quest that was beyond them on the night.
27/04/09: Paul to sponsor annual Rookie award
Paul Gilbertson (pictured) is to sponsor the annual Rookie of the Year Award, starting with the 2009 award.
The prize goes to the player who, having made his/her debut during the calendar year in question, has made the most favourable impact.
Paul has agreed to buy a new trophy to replace the original supplied by Gammonitis, including the inscription of the names of previous winners, plus an engraved memento to keep.
Another major part of the prize will be accommodation for the BIBA Gilbertson UK Finals in December, and it is very likely that there will be a further attractive element added.
Watch this space for a further announcement soon.
24/04/09: APRIL LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Twenty-nine players were in action at the April league night at the BCSC on Thursday.
And there were league debuts for Dean James and Tim Parker.
24/04/09: Phil is the second centurion ......
Phil Charlton (pictured) yesterday became only the second player to record a century of Premier League wins.
Double headers with the honours shared were the order of the day in Premier One, and after Paul Gilbertson scored an emphatic win over Phil, the return match provided Phil with the opportunity to register the hundredth success of a Premier League career which stretches right back to the inaugural season in 2000.
Phil's achievement comes fully 524 days after Stuart Mann became the first player to achieve the feat late in 2007.
Other double headers saw Stuart and Steffen Nowak sharing the spoils -- Stuart suffering a rare whitewash in the process -- while last year's divisional Premier Two champions -- Simon Baker and Peter Edwards -- were also breaking even.
Paul made the most of his long trip by getting in two further matches, a victory over Simonetta Herrera and a defeat by Ian Tarr.
Peter now holds a narrow lead, with Ian heading four players just three points behind, while the absent Gaz Owen -- with matches in hand over most -- lurks dangerously in sixth place.
24/04/09: Miles relentless at the top ......
Miles Farren scored a double success over Andrew Cobb to continue his impressive assault on the Premier Two Blue title.
Miles has now won nine out of eleven, but Cecilia Sparke and Derek Clew are the players giving chase.
Derek, Ian Preston, Simon Hughes and Phillip Hill all scored wins last night.
24/04/09: Steve top again, but Neil and Marcus are the dangers ......
While Steve Morris and Tony Walters are doing well at the top of Premier Two Red -- they each have eight wins from fourteen matches after last night -- those really catching the eye are third placed Neil Young and fourth placed Marcus Wrinch.
Neil played just once last night, but his 11-2 win over Richard Owsley gives him seven wins out of eight so far as he mounts his strongest promotion effort yet.
And Marcus, who was disappointed to have missed out last year after his sensational 2007 Conference campaign, is finally looking like a major Premier Two promotion contender, having garnered three wins last night.
24/04/09: Green shoots of recovery in the Conference ......
It's proving a tough assignment to populate this year's Bristol Conference League, but there are signs, at last, that there could be some light at the end of the tunnel.
There were league debut appearances for Dean James and Tim Parker, raising the number of contestants to six, with Director Ian Tarr currently in conversation with a handful of other prospective entrants.
Dean's debut match suffered frequent interruptions as opponent Malcolm Patterson was needed more than usual in the kitchen, and the match was adjourned at 5-all.
Tim, however, made an excellent start, defeating early leader Michal Ciupak 11-7, after adjourning 9-0 up against Anne Ryder.
21/04/09: Spring Grand Prix goes to the wire
The Monday Club Spring Grand Prix competition, which spans the first four months of the year, is set to go to the wire, with just one event remaining.
Last night's DMP Tourno was won by Roland Herrera, who bizarrely lost his overall lead in the competition.
He previously led by a single point from Ian Tarr, who also scored well last night, but because Ian's discarded score was smaller than Roland's, Ian has actually edged into a lead of just 1.5 points.
Ian's advantage is further enhanced because his final discard score will be 30 compared to Roland's 45.
Meanwhile the Youngs are edging closer to Premier One.
Both Lewis Young and Neil Young scored league wins before last night's DMP Tourno -- Lewis defeating second placed Cecilia Sparke in Premier Two Blue while Neil was winning by the same score -- 11-5 -- against John Lewis in Premier Two Red.
20/04/09: Shane is an Octochamp!
Shane Roberts -- see story from 15/04/09 below -- became an "Octochamp" on Countdown this afternoon.
Shane -- apparently a Hereford United fan, so this is a bittersweet time for him since they got relegated on Saturday -- will now be back for the next set of play-offs in June.
17/04/09: Peter goes top of Premier One
Peter Edwards is the latest leader of Premier One after his 11-7 victory over Dave Pym at the BCSC before Thursday's doubles tournament.
Lewis Young was the other league victor -- by 11-7 against Ian Preston in Premier Two Blue.
The final of the latest Consulting Doubles Grand Prix event will feature Stuart Mann and Lewis against Tim Line and Anne Foreman, while Simonetta Herrera and Todd Young won the consolation flight.
The CDGP table is looking very tight after two events, because the March winners Ed Turner and Anne Ryder drew a blank last night, while this month's finalists also failed to pull up any trees in March.
Ed and Anne still have a marginal lead, but eleven players are within 45 ponts of them.
Meanwhile Marcus Wrinch moved up to third in the OGP when he won the outstanding semi-final from last week against Neil Young. Marcus faces Gaz Owen in the final, where he will either close to within 15 points of leader Gaz, or allow Gaz to pull 65 points clear of second placed Peter.
15/04/09: Former Conference player excels on Countdown
Shane Roberts, a Conference player in 2004 and 2005, is doing very nicely on Channel Four's Countdown.
His victory this afternoon was his fifth in a row -- just three short of the maximum allowed (eight) -- and he would appear likely to be a contender for the next set of championship play-offs.
14/04/09: Gaz goes top at the double
A Premier One double success for Gaz Owen over Ed Turner at the Berkeley Wetherspoons, Queens Road, Clifton, yesterday has propelled him to the very top of the league, and it will get better for Gaz, assuming he claws back the three penalty points incurred at the March 31st checkpoint.
Coupled with his recent improved knock-out form, Gaz now has thirteen successive victories under his belt in events which contribute to the 1000 to 1 awards, bringing him level with Roland Herrera's all-time record.
And if he can manage just one more he will scoop the £50 bonus promised by new sponsor Roland.
10/04/09: APRIL GRAND PRIX ROUND-UP ......
Just twenty players contested the April grand prix tournament at the BCSC on Thursday, although it could have been less had Director Ian Tarr not admitted three unexpected latecomers by doing a redraw.
Pam Jakeway made her Bristol Backgammon debut, and Gaz Owen, (pictured left) reached a long odds personal milestone.
10/04/09: Gaz makes it two finals in a row ......
After twenty-four grand prix sorties which yielded a single semi-final appearance, Gaz Owen has turned his knock-out form around with a vengeance.
Victory at Lesters LXX last month has now been followed by a run to the final of the April Bristol Grand Prix event, after wins over Miles Farren, Peter Edwards and Tim Line.
In the final he will meet either Marcus Wrinch, conqueror of Pam Jakeway, Richard Owsley and Simon Temme, or Neil Young who earned his semi-final place via victories over Ed Turner and Malcolm Patterson.
10/04/09: Ian becoming a consolation specialist? ......
Yet to win a main flight match in the Bristol Grand Prix this year, Ian Tarr has at least done better in consolation flights.
He took his second consolation flight in three attempts with victories over Richard Holness, Lewis Young, George Jakeway and Ed Turner.
Ed had reached the final by defeating Steve Morris and Tony Walters.
10/04/09: Gaz takes OGP lead and a 2000 to 1 award ......
Not surprisingly his recent flurry of wins has taken Gaz Owen to the top of the OGP table, and he would increase his 30 points lead over second placed Peter Edwards to 65 by winning the outstanding final.
Marcus Wrinch is fourth, but would close to within fifteen points of Gaz were he to go on to win the tournament.
And Neil Young could kick-start his modest OGP season by moving from 20th to 5th with a tournament win.
And the bonus for Gaz was the recording of his ninth, tenth and eleventh wins in competitions contributing to the Roland Herrera sponsored 1000 to 1 awards.
10/04/09: Malcolm regains IGP lead ......
One time visitor John Udeh has lost his IGP pole position.
Malcolm Patterson did enough to regain the lead, gaining bonus points for his first round victory over Tony Walters.
But Malcolm is the only intermediate to have appeared more than once so far!
With 2010 Premier League places available for the top two finishers, surely the IGP race will hot up.
10/04/09: Are rollovers a thing of the past? ......
Rollovers in the Winner Takes All pool are becoming rare.
Although only half of last night's contestants took the plunge, the non-entrants were all eliminated before the semi-final stage.
But the good news for whoever wins the April final is that there were enough entries to guarantee a slot in the 2010 Bristol Masters.
10/04/09: Miles tops Premier Two Blue again ......
Miles Farren did not have his best tournament on Thursday, but at least his short journey to the BCSC wasn't wasted, as his pre-tournament Premier Two Blue win over Phillip Hill saw him leapfrog over Cecilia Sparke to the top of the division.
07/04/09: Fourth Bristol Open announced
Co-organisers Roland Herrera and Ian Tarr have announced the staging of the fourth Bristol Open.
The event, following on from previous successful incarnations in 2005, 2006 and last year, will take place at the same venue as the last two, The Artillery Grounds, Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, on August Bank Holiday weekend, on the 28th, 29th and 30th.
Full details will appear on the event website (click on the image) as it is updated, but there will be three categories this year, each with three flights.
The Championship category will have entry set at £170 with £30 registration, the Advanced category is £50 plus £20, and the Intermediate category is £10 plus £10.
Match lengths for the Championship will be 15, 9 and 7 points for the main, progressive consolation and last chance flights, 13, 9 and 7 (Advanced), and 11, 7, and 5 (Intermediate).
These flights take place on the Saturday and Sunday, with an inexpensive warm-up tournament on Friday evening.
There will also be Texas Hold 'Em poker on offer on Saturday evening at least.
Last year's event was put together at comparatively short notice, but with more chance for advance publicity it is anticipated that there will be more entries this year, especially from overseas.
06/04/09: Michi, Gaz, Lewis and Ian score round robin successes
Monday's Spring Grand Prix session featured 3-point robins -- three of them, as fifteen players took part in groups of five.
The draw was tough on those in Group A, which included both Herreras and two of our Japanese visitors, while Group C featured two Conference players plus welcome debut player Andy Scholes.
Michihito Kageyama (in Group A) was the only player in any group to win all four matches, living up to his star billing after his misfortunes of last Thursday.
Top honours in Group B were shared by Gaz Owen and Lewis Young, while Ian Tarr topped Group C.
With just two SGP sessions to go, Roland Herrera's lead has been cut to a single point by Ian Tarr, with Gaz just 12.5 points away in third place.
Before the round robins Tony Walters and Neil Young played out a Premier Two Red match, which Neil won 11-5, to record his fifth win in six matches.
Tony still leads the division with eight wins from thirteen matches.
05/04/09: Gaz and Stuart go close at Daventry
Gaz Owen became the seventh Bristol player to reach the main final of the BIBA British Open at Daventry this weekend, emerging from a field of 77 at the Barcelo Hotel.
Sadly Gaz's challenge ended up going the same way as Stuart Mann's did in the semi-finals -- experiencing defeat at the hands of new champion Jon Barnes.
The main event didn't start too well for the Bristol and Bristol-connected contingent, with twelve of the twenty dipping out in their first encounters, whether in the first round or in the second after receiving a bye.
Among these casualties were the reigning champion -- now based in Norfolk -- Ann Pocknell, former losing finalists Tony Lee and Ian Tarr, and reigning Bristol Open champion Simonetta Herrera.
Three others fell in round two after winning their first round matches -- Paul Gilbertson, Cecilia Sparke and Ed Turner -- leaving just five of our number still involved in the last thirty-two.
From then on the attrition rate became more respectable -- only Marcus Wrinch succumbing in round three, at the hands of Arthur Musgrove.
The last sixteen brought together Julian Fetterlein and Gaz, and it was Gaz who scored a notable victory.
Meanwhile Stuart was scoring an emphatic win over Mardi Ohanessian, while Miles Farren lost agonisingly to Chris Purchase.
So as the Saturday evening cessation of hostilities took over, we had just two of the last eight standing, and it was at this stage that Gaz and Stuart decided to split the traditional Bristol side pool.
Sunday morning started well as Gaz beat Lincoln's Tim Mooring and Stuart, from 4-2 ahead, won a sixteen-cube game to eliminate York's Kevin Stebbing in the quarters.
It was then that Jon Barnes took centre stage, while Gaz knocked out Chris Purchase.
Ann reached the final of the fourth and final flight of the weekend -- the three pointer -- but was beaten by another former champion, Rachel Rhodes.
Pictured with their prizes are, left to right, Stuart, Gaz and Ann.
05/04/09: Cecilia wins Handicap event
A couple of domestic issues were resolved at Daventry over the weekend.
Cecilia Sparke (pictured here by David Startin) defeated Simonetta Herrera in the held over final of Thursday's Handicap Trophy event to go equal third in the table with Marcus Wrinch, just 20 points behind joint leaders Simonetta and Simon Hughes.
And it didn't get any better for Simonetta when she played a Premier One match against Gaz Owen, going down 7-11.
The win was Gaz's fourth in five matches thus far this season.
Meanwhile defending Bristol Masters champion Ann Pocknell is unable to make it to Bristol on April 30th to defend her title.
Her place is therefore offered to Tim Line by virtue of his 2008 OGP finishing position.
03/04/09: Ladies on top at lively Handicap evening
On an evening when Bristol was once again honoured by a visit from a World Backgammon Giant, it was Bristol's top ladies who dominated.
Twenty-six players contested the second of the series of six Handicap Trophy events, including debuts for our three guests from Japan -- leading player Michihito Kageyama (pictured left, being entertained by Cynthia Roberts) and his compatriots Taka Ito and Ken Osakabe.
And to add to the international flavour we also welcomed a South African resident of the UK, Dave Moon, who was too late for the tournament, but contested a four player jackpot later on.
In the main event Simonetta Herrera got past the challenges of her husband Roland, Tony Walters, Derek Clew and Steve Morris to earn a final clash with Cecilia Sparke, who defeated Ian Tarr, Ken and Simon Temme en route.
The final is likely to be played some time over the weekend in Daventry.
The consolation flight saw Simon Hughes emerge victorious, beating Richard Holness and Michal Ciupak before his final success over Miles Farren.
As for our three visitors, poor Michi (given a zero handicap to befit his lofty status) was "ianed" twice, Ian Preston eliminating him very quickly from the main flight and Ian Tarr taking a little longer to do so in the consolation. Both defeats featured a backgammon.
Ken and Taka were given generous handicaps of 2 points, but each fell at the second hurdle of the main flight.
Earlier in the evening there had been some league action, with the Young brothers and Blaine Buchanan working towards clawing back their penalties.
Blaine beat Lewis Young 11-8 in Premier Two Blue, while Todd Young was defeating Drew Caudwell 11-3 in Premier Two Red.
01/04/09: Japanese visitors arrive this week
Three Japanese players -- including World Backgammon Giant Michihito Kageyama -- arrive in Bristol this week, looking to make an impact on both the local and national scenes.
Michihito and his compatriots Ken Osakabe and Taka Ito will be at the BCSC on Thursday evening, when we are holding the second of our series of six Handicap Trophy events, and will also be travelling with the Bristol invasion of Daventry for the weekend's BIBA British Open, sponsored by casinorip.com.
01/04/09: Peter and Michael share spoils as penalties bite ten
Peter Edwards and Michael Corbett fought out a Premier One double header at the Fountain, Parkend, Gloucestershire on Tuesday, and each player gained a victory -- 11-6 to Peter, 11-3 to Michael.
Peter thus moves into third place to become one of five players leading the championship race on fifteen points.
Meanwhile ten players have fallen foul of the March 31st midnight checkpoint, having failed to complete at least seven matches.
Gaz Owen is the only Premier One player to be penalised, but his shortfall of three results means he will need to play at least seven matches during April and May if he wants to claw those penalty points back.
In Premier Two Blue four players collected penalties, three for John Paton and two apiece for Blaine Buchanan, Phillip Hill and Lewis Young.
And five players have penalties in Premier Two Red -- three for Todd Young, two for Neil Young, and one each for Martin Hemming, Richard Holness and Mike Smith.
30/03/09: Three league leadership changes in a single session
After Ian Tarr had taken over the leadership of Premier One in the afternoon, the narrowly defeated Simon Baker turned the tables with an 11-4 win over Steffen Nowak at the BCSC to take pole position.
But when Steffen won the rematch, Simon's points difference advantage had gone, and Ian was back on top, with Simon, Steffen and Dave Pym all together on fifteen points.
And Premier One wasn't the only league where the things were changing at the top.
There were two further double headers in Premier Two Blue, with former leader Cynthia Roberts taking on Cecilia Sparke, and Paul Watts meeting Derek Clew.
A brace of 11-9 wins for Cecilia saw her taking over from Miles Farren on average points difference, while Paul and Derek shared the spoils and consolidated their fourth and fifth places.
Meanwhile there was a nine player quick clock tournament as the latest episode of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
Ian Preston defeated Tony Walters in the main flight final, with Gaz Owen defeating Neil Young in the consolation final.
Roland Herrera now has a 28.5 points lead over second placed Gaz.
30/03/09: Ian top -- for a few hours at least
As the Tuesday midnight checkpoint looms, there's the usual steady trickle of league action to report.
At Redfield this afternoon, in a match where either player would have moved ahead of Dave Pym at the top of Premier One with a win, Ian Tarr won the tightest of encounters against Simon Baker.
So Ian went top, but knew that he quite probably wouldn't be after Simon's projected double header with Steffen Nowak this evening.
And in Horfield there was a true local derby when Neil Young defeated his son Todd, but only by the narrowest of margins.
With Todd having completed four matches, the last threat of an expungement tomorrow night has been removed.
Read about this evening's league action, and the Monday Club clock tournament here later.
27/03/09: MARCH LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
Twenty-four players were involved in league matches, and one other was in knock-out action at the March league night at the BCSC on Thursday.
Premier One was the focus of much attention as no fewer than twelve matches were completed.
27/03/09: Dave has twelve pursuers within nine points ......
After a busy night in the top flight, you could throw the proverbial blanket over all thirteen contestants.
Leader Dave Pym held on at the top of the Premier One table, despite losing both his matches against Ed Turner, but he has now lost seven out of twelve, and it seems to be only a matter of time before he becomes engulfed by the pursuing throng, who all have at least four matches in hand, and are all within just nine points.
Simon Baker was one of three players absent on the night, but still heads the pursuers, albeit by virtue of his average points difference compared to the five others on twelve points.
Reigning champion Stuart Mann equalled his worst ever run in the top flight when he lost his first match of the evening, against Ian Tarr -- his fourth successive reverse -- but he later recovered with a win over Peter Edwards.
Steffen Nowak and Ed each managed two wins out of three, while Paul Gilbertson broke even in his four matches.
Other winners on the night were Peter, Simonetta Herrera, Phil Charlton and Tim Line.
27/03/09: Derek, Paul and Simon make progress ......
Six Premier Two Blue players completed six matches between them, and those who emerged in good shape from their evening's endeavours were Derek Clew and Paul Watts, who each won both of their encounters, and Simon Hughes who won two out of three.
It was Derek who dented the Premier League's best start when he pipped Cecilia Sparke 11-10 -- her first defeat in five.
27/03/09: Tony still top despite defeat ......
Tony Walters had his Premier Two Red lead cut to six points, when he suffered defeat at the hands of John Lewis, whose two victories out of three moved him up to fourth place.
Other victors on the night were Steve Morris, Richard Owsley, Marcus Wrinch and Martin Hemming, who broke even from his four matches.
27/03/09: Michal wins again ......
Things are still moving pretty slowly in the Conference, but at least Michal Ciupak and Malcolm Patterson got a match in, Michal coming out on top to preserve his winning start to his first league campaign.
New players are desperately needed, though, to give the competition some impetus.
27/03/09: Gaz succeeds in a grand prix tournament at last ......
Gaz Owen has made considerable strides during the past couple of years, so it is interesting to reflect that his previous twenty-four Bristol grand prix main flights had yielded just one semi-final appearance.
His perseverance paid off, though, at Lesters LXX a fortnight ago, when he finally made it to his first final.
And when that match was played last night, it was Gaz who emerged from an absorbing and close fought contest to defeat Marcus Wrinch, qualifying for next year's Bristol Masters and moving into second place in the OGP table.
25/03/09: Successes for Tony and Phil
With the March 31st checkpoint looming, the steady trickle of league action continued tonight with matches at two venues.
Phil Charlton scored an invaluable Premier One victory over reigning champion Stuart Mann at the Cornubia, pushing Stuart into an unaccustomed bottom four berth.
And in Premier Two Red at Colston Yard, Tony Walters extended his lead to nine points with a hard fought double over the luckless Mike Smith, who will feel aggrieved at having nothing to show for scoring 19 points in two matches.
24/03/09: Cecilia still 100%
In a one sided Premier Two Blue encounter at the Windmill, Windmill Hill, this evening Cecilia Sparke maintained her 100% league record for her fourth win of the season.
Cecilia is now in third place, while her victim tonight, Blaine Buchanan, slips to seventh.
24/03/09: Double for Miles puts him top
There was league action at three different venues on Monday.
A top of the table double header at the BCSC featured Premier Two Blue leader Cynthia Roberts and Miles Farren.
Miles scored two emphatic wins to take over at the top.
Meanwhile Cecilia Sparke played only her third Premier Two Blue match of the season when she took on John Paton at the Bell, Hillgrove Street.
And her 11-5 win preserved her 100% record.
At the Kensington Arms, Redland, Steve Morris moved into second place in Premier Two Red with an 11-6 victory over Mike Smith.
24/03/09: Tony wins Tric Trac Tourno
Monday's Spring Grand Prix action featured a nine player Tric Trac Tourno, which was won by Tony Walters.
The win moved Tony up to third in the SGP table, while second placed Roland Herrera moved into a six points lead over Ian Tarr.
20/03/09: Ed and Anne win opening doubles event
The belated start to the Consulting Doubles Grand Prix season didn't stop the series getting off to a healthy start.
Having been postponed due to the early February weather, there were eleven pairs eagerly awaiting the off, including Thursday debuts for Carol Mayne and Anne Foreman.
Unusually for this event, where play is inevitably slow because of the consultation, the whole event was completed on the night.
The main flight saw Ed Turner and Anne Ryder take the honours, defeating Marcus Wrinch and Carol in the final, while the consolation was won by Peter Edwards and Tony Walters, with Stuart Mann and Lewis Young the runners-up.
Thus Ed and Anne are the first leaders of the CDGP table.
There was also league action, and a couple of outstanding finals were completed.
Ian Tarr defeated Simonetta Herrera in a Premier One encounter, while the Young brothers -- Lewis and Todd -- were scoring victories over Phillip Hill and Tony respectively in Premier Two Blue and Premier Two Red.
Marcus took the main flight of the February 19th Handicap Trophy tournament, defeating Simon Hughes, while the consolation final from last week's Clock Tournament Grand Prix event saw Steve Morris prevailing over Steffen Nowak.
Meanwhile at the Tobacco Factory, there was a triangular Premier Two Red night, with Drew Caudwell, Richard Owsley and Simon Temme each winning one and losing one.
17/03/09: Miles moves closer
Miles Farren edged closer to the promotion places in Premier Two Blue when he scored an 11-6 win over Blaine Buchanan at The Ship, Park Row, this evening.
13/03/09: Premier League lead changes twice!
A Premier One double header at the BCSC between Dave Pym and Simon Baker saw the league leadership change twice!
Dave, who led at the start of the session, suffered a 9-11 defeat in the first leg, a result which saw Simon unbeaten in his four matches and ahead of Dave on average points difference.
But Dave's 11-7 revenge put him back on top of the table, ending Simon's excellent regular season sequence which, including his closing sequence in Premier Two Red last year, gave him eleven victories, a run interrupted only by his play-off defeat at the hands of Peter Edwards.
Other action at the BCSC saw the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix continue with a couple of clock blitz round robins, featuring a debut appearance for Dean James.
Roland Herrera won one of these and moves to second place in the MSGP table, while the other group saw Ian Preston and Tony Walters share the spoils.
13/03/09: Gaz reaches final
The semi-final of last night's tournament between Cecilia Sparke and Gaz Owen was fought out at The Two Magpies (formerly known as The Richmond Spring) in Clifton this afternoon, and it was Gaz who progressed to the final to meet Marcus Wrinch.
13/03/09: NEWS ROUND-UP FROM LESTERS LXX ......
The Bristol Backgammon season is really gathering pace now.
The seventieth Lesters Trophy tournament, the third of the twelve tournaments which make up the Bristol Grand Prix, attracted an entry of twenty-six players at the BCSC on Thursday.
We welcomed a Turkish visitor to the UK, Ali Ozbilen, while there were also debuts for two other newcomers, Roger Coram and John Udeh.
And Phil Doubtfire, on his way back home from Cheltenham races, made his first Bristol appearance since August's Bristol Open.
13/03/09: Marcus awaits an opponent in main flight final ......
Marcus Wrinch made it through to the final of Lesters LXX on Thursday evening, defeating Simonetta Herrera, Richard Owsley and Roland Herrera en route.
His final opponent will be either Gaz Owen or Cecilia Sparke, whose semi-final meeting has yet to be arranged.
Gaz fought his way past Steffen Nowak, Stuart Mann and Phillip Hill to reach the semis, while Cecilia was claiming the scalps of Derek Clew, Peter Edwards and Julian Fetterlein.
13/03/09: Blaine takes consolation honours ......
Blaine Buchanan won Thursday's consolation flight, defeating Derek Clew in the final.
Blaine had defeated Simon Temme, Neil Young and Drew Caudwell on his way, while Derek had progressed by beating Steve Morris before getting an unexpected bye in the quarter-finals.
This windfall came courtesy of Roger Coram, who mysteriously disappeared after eliminating Steffen Nowak. Derek then got past Ian Tarr in the semis.
13/03/09: Peter leads OGP despite second round setback ......
Joint OGP leaders Peter Edwards and Simonetta Herrera did little to consolidate their positions at Thursday's event, but while Simonetta was drawing a total blank, Peter did at least manage a first round win which makes him outright leader.
Gaz Owen can split the pair if he wins the outstanding semi and final, while success for either Marcus Wrinch or Cecilia Sparke would see them tucked into third place.
13/03/09: John goes straight to IGP pole position ......
With intermediates thin on the ground in 2009, our three debut players had the chance to stake their claims in the IGP.
February leader Malcolm Patterson did not compete, so the way was clear for John Udeh to move straight into the lead, thanks to his first round win over Blaine Buchanan, which also earned him ten bonus points.
13/03/09: Cecilia carries rollover hopes ......
Exactly half the field of twenty-six entrants opted for the Winner Takes All pool, so there was a realistic chance of a rollover in the offing.
But with three contenders left standing, the hopes of the neutrals now rest on the shoulders of Cecilia Sparke.
13/03/09: Neil, Miles and Julian await return on their auction investments ......
The traditional Lesters pre-tournament auction of players realised a total of £149, helped in no small way by a record winning bid of £30 by Tony Walters, who bought Julian Fetterlein.
But it was the more modest investments of £5 apiece that were looking wiser come the end of the evening.
Julian is hoping Marcus Wrinch will win the final, while semi-finalists Gaz Owen and Cecilia Sparke were purchased by Neil Young and Miles Farren respectively.
13/03/09: Tony extends Premier Two Red lead ......
Apart from half a match played in Premier Two Blue, the league action on Thursday centred around Premier Two Red.
Tony Walters extended his lead by defeating closest rival Steve Morris, while Neil Young beat Drew Caudwell.
To cap an unproductive evening for Steve, his adjourned match with Drew was completed with Drew the victor.
11/03/09: Julian pushes BIBA record score to new high
BIBA's so called "International Championships" at Daventry last weekend saw another BIBA title win for Julian Fetterlein, who defeated Uldis Lapikens in the final.
Cheltenham based Julian, who played three Bristol Grand Prix tournaments towards the end of 2008, pushed his BIBA ranking score to an all-time record level at 2103 points.
One time Bristol visitor Peter Bennet was a semi-finalist.
BIBA's showpiece tournament, the casinorip.com British Open, takes place at the same venue on April 3rd, 4th and 5th, and there is sure to be a strong Bristol contingent there, after twenty current Bristol players were among the field of 79 at the corresponding event last year.
10/03/09: Simon makes progress at the Foresters
A couple of Premier One results are just in from the Foresters, Downend, last night.
Reigning Premier Two Red champion Simon Baker won both legs of his double header against Phil Charlton, and although he has made a slow start to the season, it has been a good one, with victories in all three matches contested so far.
09/03/09: Helen excels as Mondays catch on
The compact, snappy format of Monday evening sessions is beginning to gather a larger following.
With a variety of events designed to fit comfortably into a three hour slot, the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix is beginning to attract a hard core of wizened stalwarts, as well as a non-paying group, who are beginning to get a feel for competition without the heartache of investing hard earned money.
This week there was an innovation -- a DMP Tourno -- a bit like a Tric Trac Tourno with the emphasis changed from playing for gammons to merely winning games.
Eleven players contested this, six paying the £5 entry fee which gave them a chance of a cash prize and some Spring Grand Prix points, the other five -- including a welcome debut for Pelin Hanley -- playing for free and gaining some valuable experience.
And it was one of the free entrants who managed to win the competition by scoring eight wins in ten games. Perhaps if Helen Perkins -- on only her second visit -- had plumped for the paying option, she would have gone home with a tidy profit.
The prize money was shared by Gaz Owen and Neil Young who each scored seven wins, Neil cutting Ian Tarr's SGP lead to 46 points.
Also present were Richard Holness and Tony Walters, who opted for league action, getting in a Premier Two Red double header. The honours were shared, and Tony remains top of the table.
Earlier at the Watershed Gaz had scored a Premier One double over Michael Corbett.
And Alan Parfitt played some friendly games with Ian on his first visit since his mystery illness.
06/03/09: Stuart takes clock honours
The second in the series of eight Clock Tournament Grand Prix events at the BCSC on Thursday -- contested by just fifteen players -- saw a narrow victory for Stuart Mann over Roland Herrera in an entertaining final.
Steve Morris and Steffen Nowak will contest the final of the consolation flight.
Stuart takes over the leadership of the CTGP table from Simonetta Herrera who lost out to her husband in the semis.
One Premier Two Blue match was played -- Blaine Buchanan scoring an 11-7 win over Miles Farren.
And Ian Preston came out the winner of the recent Handicap Trophy consolation flight after defeating Peter Edwards in the semis and Malcolm Patterson in the final.
02/03/09: Gaz and Ian win round robins
The latest Monday Club session saw twelve players split into two three point round robins, while two others played out a Premier Two Blue double header.
The round robins, a part of the Spring Grand Prix, featured a debut performance by Anne Foreman, and were won by Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr, who each scored a clean sweep of five victories to scoop the prize pots.
Ian's SGP lead has increased to either 59 or 64 points, depending on the outcome of the single match held over until Thursday.
Meanwhile Cynthia Roberts continued the speedy start to her Premier Two Blue campaign by playing Paul Watts twice.
She scored an 11-7 win before succumbing 2-11 in the return. Having played nine matches already, she remains top of her league with six wins under her belt, two more than her closest pursuer.
27/02/09: Lewis wins "Battle of the Youngs"
Lewis Young and his Dad Neil Young fought out the final of Mondays' clock tournament at the Porto Lounge, Fishponds, earlier today.
Lewis was the 7-3 winner, and closes to within nineteen points of Monday Club Spring Grand Prix leader Ian Tarr.
27/02/09: FEBRUARY LEAGUE NIGHT NEWS ......
After a relatively quiet start to the year -- the weather no doubt having played its part -- there was a real sense that 2009 was getting into full swing at the BCSC on Thursday.
With no fewer than thirty-one players in league action, plus a couple more playing chouette, it was the liveliest session of the year so far.
27/02/09: Dave goes top ......
Dave Pym last night finished the seventh and eighth matches of his return to the top flight, and his two victories were enough to move him into pole position in Premier One.
And so far it appears that nobody will run away at the top in the way Stuart Mann or Mark Dixon have done in recent years.
Stuart had begun soundly with a couple of wins, but last night suffered a brace of defeats to bring him right back into the pack.
Behind Dave, the likeliest pacemakers at this stage would appear to be Peter Edwards and Simonetta Herrera, who each scored a win last night.
Other winners were Paul Gilbertson -- with two out of four last night -- Simon Baker, Phil Charlton, Steffen Nowak and Tim Line.
27/02/09: Cynthia powers on ......
Cynthia Roberts is enjoying her best start to a season since gaining promotion in 2004.
In fact her opening sequences have condemned her to a season of struggle in each of her previous four campaigns. Not so this time.
Having already won three of her five matches this season, Cynthia added two more victories last night to remain proudly at the top of Premier Two Blue.
Ian Preston is in hot pursuit after matching Cynthia's brace of successes.
Derek Clew began with two wins, but was pegged back in his return encounter with Andrew Cobb.
Cecilia Sparke added a victory to her record, and now has two without defeat, while Paul Watts was the only other winner.
27/02/09: Steve takes over ......
A brace of victories took Steve Morris to the top of the Premier Two Red table on Thursday evening.
Previous leader Richard Owsley suffered a surprise 10-11 reverse at the hands of Drew Caudwell, but holds on to second place, just ahead of Marcus Wrinch, who scored an emphatic double over Richard Holness.
Other winners were John Lewis, Tony Walters and Neil Young.
27/02/09: The Conference has started ......
Attracting new or returning players to the Conference is the top priority for Bristol Backgammon at the moment.
But at least a start was made to this year's competition when Anne Ryder and Michal Ciupak made their respective league debuts.
Michal won 11-3 to head the embryonic league table.
23/02/09: Youngs dominate clock event
Neil and Lewis Young will meet in the main final of the latest Monday Club Spring Grand Prix clock event at the BCSC.
Neil beat Simon Hughes and Gaz Owen to reach the final, while Lewis was defeating Michal Ciupak and Ian Tarr.
The final could have been completed in the allotted time, but since it was a family affair the duo elected to finish the flight at home some time soon.
Ed Turner won the consolation flight, defeating Tony Walters in the final.
Ian's Spring Grand Prix lead has been reduced to 44 points, but whoever wins the final will reduce that margin considerably.
Meanwhile there was also a Premier Two Blue double header featuring Cynthia Roberts and Ian Preston.
Cynthia won the opening encounter 11-8, but succumbed 5-11 in the second. She has regained her divisional lead.
20/02/09: FEBRUARY HANDICAP TROPHY ROUND-UP ......
Twenty-four players contested the first of the six events which comprise the 2009 Handicap Trophy at the BCSC on Thursday.
Included in the tournament field were Michal Ciupak, who made his second visit of the week, and Alan Sammonds, returning for the first time in almost four years.
With two others playing league matches, and another there for some chouette, it turned out to be a busy evening.
20/02/09: Simon and Marcus to contest main flight final ......
The main final of the opening 2009 Handicap Trophy event will be contested by Simon Hughes -- making the most of his handicap of 3 -- and Marcus Wrinch.
Simon came through the long half of the draw, defeating defending champion Lewis Young, Ed Turner, Simonetta Herrera and Miles Farren, while Marcus was eliminating Peter Edwards, Simon Temme and Neil Young.
Thus Simon is the early Handicap Trophy leader by virtue of having won the extra match, but Marcus will of course take pole position should he win the final.
20/02/09: Malcolm reaches consolation final ......
Malcolm Patterson is in the consolation final after beating the Richards, Owsley and Holness.
And we would know who his final opponent will be had one of the semi-finalists, Ian Preston, not departed at 11pm, at a time when the identity of his semi-final opponent was on the brink of being revealed.
Ian will now meet Peter Edwards for the right to cross swords with Malcolm.
20/02/09: Simonetta scores double success; wins for Dave and Lewis ......
The outstanding final from last week's Bristol Grand Prix event, between Simonetta Herrera and Ed Turner, was concluded after their adjournment from Monday evening.
Ed failed to recover from the 3-7 deficit, so Simonetta draws level with Peter Edwards at the head of the OGP table.
The match was also doubled up as a Premier One match, so Simonetta's record is now even, while Ed's start to the season might well be giving him cause for concern.
Peter Edwards got in a match before the tournament, but his 10-11 defeat at the hands of Dave Pym loses him top spot, as defending champion Stuart Mann now has a better average points difference.
Paul Watts got his Premier Two Blue campaign under way, but suffered a 6-11 defeat against Lewis Young, who now takes over from Cynthia Roberts at the top.
16/02/09: Three newcomers at Monday session
There were three welcome newcomers present at the Monday Club session at the BCSC.
Michal Ciupak, Carol Mayne and Helen Perkins all made promising debuts in an eleven player Tric Trac Tourno, which was the fourth scoring element of the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix.
Lewis Young, with a backgammon and five gammons, was the comfortable winner, with Ed Turner in second place.
Ed also started his February Bristol Grand Prix main flight final with Simonetta Herrera, which is also doubled up as a Premier One match.
Simonetta led 7-3 when the match had to be adjourned.
13/02/09: FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
There were twenty-one players in action at the February grand prix evening, eighteen in the main flight, one who elected to enter the consolation flight only, and two others who turned up to play some league fixtures.
13/02/09: Ed and Simonetta to contest main flight final ......
Ed Turner, previously without a win in 2009, and Simonetta Herrera will fight out the held over final of the February Grand Prix main flight.
Ed got past Ian Preston, Blaine Buchanan and Peter Edwards to reach the final, while Simonetta was defeating Marcus Wrinch, Gaz Owen and Malcolm Patterson.
13/02/09: Ians fight out consolation final ......
Ian Preston and Ian Tarr made it through to the consolation final of Thursday's tournament, and it was Ian Tarr who prevailed in a close match.
Tony Walters and Marcus Wrinch had succumbed to Ian Preston, while the other Ian was eliminating Neil Young and Cecilia Sparke.
13/02/09: Simonetta could be tied for OGP lead ......
If Simonetta Herrera wins the final of yesterday's tournament she will be tied in first place in the OGP table with January winner Peter Edwards.
A win for Ed Turner would move him up from fourth place to third.
13/02/09: Malcolm takes IGP lead ......
In this least active of all IGP starts to a season, it fell to the first player to win a match -- Malcolm Patterson -- to move into pole position.
His win over Cecilia Sparke -- undoubtedly the best yet of his fledgling career -- gives him a 25 points lead over the only two other intermediates to enter so far, Chris Roberts and Anne Ryder.
Anne set a precedent in electing to enter only the consolation flight (for a knock-down price of £3) as she eases her way into competitive backgammon.
This option has always been open to latecomers, but this was the first time a player had used this facility as a preference.
13/02/09: No WTA rollover ......
Surprisingly in a main flight field of eighteen, all but four chose to invest in the Winner Takes All pool on Thursday, so the prospect of a rollover was immediately slim.
Non pool entrant Malcolm Patterson reached the semi-final, via a quarter-final walkover when Stuart Mann scratched because of time constraints, but when he succumbed to Simonetta Herrera that scotched the last hope of a rollover.
Meanwhile Peter Edwards is the first player to be assured of a place in the 2010 Bristol Masters, while the winner of the February tournament will have to wait and see whether any other event this year has fewer than nineteen entrants.
13/02/09: Michael off to a great start ......
Michael Corbett came along to start his Premier One campaign, and he could hardly have done better.
Wins over Dave Pym and Simonetta Herrera have set him up nicely for the remainder of his campaign.
Stuart Mann also beat Dave to continue a solid start to his championship defence.
09/02/09: Not many beat the snow
The Monday Club session at the BCSC may have beaten the weather, but there were insufficient players to stage the scheduled clock blitz round robin.
Ian Tarr and Ed Turner took advantage of the opportunity to play a Premier One match, won by Ian, and Ian Preston later played a couple of friendlies with Malcolm Patterson.
09/02/09: Business as usual at the BCSC
Monday's session at the BCSC goes ahead, as things -- at least for the moment -- return to normal.
Clock blitz round robins will be the order of the day in the latest in the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix series of mini-competitions.
06/02/09: Doubles rescheduled for March 19th
The opening Consulting Doubles Grand Prix tournament, postponed on Thursday, has been rescheduled for Thursday March 19th.
This replaces the jackpot evening previously scheduled for that date.
05/02/09: Richard goes clear
Richard Owsley has started his Premier Two Red campaign with three successive wins.
His latest success was an 11-10 victory over Simon Temme at the Tobacco Factory, Southville this evening.
05/02/09: Doubles tournament tonight is postponed
Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr has taken the decision to postpone tonight's doubles tournament.
A number of factors surrounding the prevailing weather have been taken into account, and the event will now be rescheduled some time later in the year.
02/02/09: Awards night photos now online
Roland Herrera's photos from Thursday's Awards Night are now online.
Click here to browse them.
02/02/09: Snow curtails Monday session
With most of the seven players at the BCSC early on Thursday evening beating a hasty retreat because of the snow, Bristol Backgammon Director Ian Tarr had little alternative but to call a halt to the session.
That meant the cancellation of the scheduled Monday Club Spring Grand Prix DMP Tourno, although there was time for two Premier League matches to be played.
Lewis Young celebrated his Premier Two Blue debut by toppling Miles Farren from the league's summit with a resounding 11-2 win. Cynthia Roberts takes over at the top.
And Neil Young began his Premier Two Red campaign by defeating Drew Caudwell 11-5.
01/02/09: Derek and Roland scoop most prizes
Thursday saw the annual Bristol Backgammon Awards night, with seventeen players either collecting prizes or having them stored for future collection.
Heaviest hauls were those of Derek Clew, who picked up the John Chidgey Cup, plus the IGP and Intermediates Trophy titles, as well as the OGP runner-up prize, and Roland Herrera, who took the OGP and Consulting Doubles titles, plus the Samuel Mead Memorial Shield and an unprecedented 8000-1 award for a sequence of thirteen wins.
Director Ian Tarr's Review of 2008 underlined the contrast between the rude health of high level competition in Bristol and the sudden drying up of the supply line of emerging talent, which he regards as the great challenge to be addressed in 2009.
The "surprise" awards went to Simon Temme as Rookie of the Year, and Cecilia Sparke as the Martin Hemming sponsored Most Improved Player.
Pictures from the event, taken by Roland, will be on the site very soon.
The evening also featured eleven Premier League matches and an eight player £10 jackpot -- the prize split between Gaz Owen and Roland.
In Premier One Peter Edwards has started in the same vein as his Premier Two title winning campaign last year, his second win coming at the expense of Ed Turner.
And Steffen Nowak celebrated his return to the top flight with a win over Simonetta Herrera.
In Premier Two Blue the early leaders are Miles Farren and Cynthia Roberts, who both scored victories on Thursday -- Cynthia twice -- while the other winners were Andrew Cobb and Ian Preston.
And in Premier Two Red five players -- Richard Owsley, John Lewis, Simon Temme, Steve Morris and Martin Hemming -- are now on two wins, while Richard Holness celebrated his Premier League debut with a win.
26/01/09: Ed and Roland win round robins
Two four player 3-point round robins were the order of the day at the Monday evening BCSC session. Ed Turner and Roland Herrera came out on top of them to make inroads into Ian Tarr's Monday Club Spring Grand Prix lead.
Mike Smith and Simon Temme turned out for a Premier Two Red match, and the final four cubed game could have gone either way at the death. It went to Simon.
Meanwhile at the Kensington Arms, Redland, there was more Premier Two Red action when Drew Caudwell and Steve Morris met for a double header.
Steve scored a whitewash in the first match, but Drew was 9-8 ahead in the second when it was adjourned.
26/01/09: Miles goes top in Llanthony
He won't have realised it until he reads this, but Miles Farren moved to the top of the very early season Premier Two Blue table on Saturday evening.
Blaine Buchanan, who was previously the leader, lost 9-11 to Cecilia Sparke at the Priory Hotel, Llanthony, near Abergavenny, and thus slipped below Miles on average points difference.
23/01/09: JANUARY LEAGUE NIGHT ROUND-UP ......
With thirty-seven players taking part in this year's three Bristol Premier League divisions, it might have been expected that the opening league night of 2009 would be a hive of activity, as it has been in previous years.
But there were only eighteen players present and, worryingly, nobody has yet signed up for the Bristol Conference League, traditionally a rich source of new Bristol Backgammon talent.
Six players took advantage of the session to tie up the loose ends from the tournaments of the past two weeks.
23/01/09: Peter leads embryonic Premier One table ......
Nobody has yet won more than one match in Premier One.
Six matches were played last night, and both reigning champion Stuart Mann and his Premier Two counterpart Peter Edwards have begun with a single victory.
Tim Line, Dave Pym, Gaz Owen and Ian Tarr also recorded victories, but each suffered at least one setback.
23/01/09: Pack chasing Martin ......
Martin Hemming's January 3rd brace of wins is still enough to see him top of Premier Two Red.
But John Lewis, Richard Owsley, Marcus Wrinch and Tony Walters have all joined Steve Morris just one win behind him.
23/01/09: Miles, Phillip and Simon make progress ......
There have been just four matches completed in Premier Two Blue thus far.
Yesterday it was the turn of Miles Farren, Phillip Hill and Simon Hughes to join Blaine Buchanan on one win apiece.
23/01/09: No takers yet for the Conference ......
Many theories were bandied about yesterday evening for the complete lack of players so far in this year's Bristol Conference League.
But whatever the reason or reasons for this sad state of affairs, Director Ian Tarr will be redoubling recruitment efforts in a bid to maintain the competition's role as the life blood of Bristol Backgammon.
23/01/09: Peter and Simonetta take knock-out titles ......
Peter Edwards defeated Simonetta Herrera and Steve Morris to claim the first of this year's Bristol Grand Prix titles.
This is Peter's fifth success in just 26 Bristol Grand Prix tournaments to date.
Also completed was the January 15th Clock Grand Prix tournament, where Simonetta defeated Stuart Mann in the main flight final, while Gaz Owen was beating Tony Walters in the consolation final.
Simonetta becomes the first ever CTGP leader.
19/01/09: Ian builds Monday Club lead
The latest Monday Club session, featuring a quick clock tournament (just one minute per point per player with 12 seconds delay), saw Ian Tarr building a useful Spring Grand Prix lead.
There were just five players present, and Ian won the single flight the hard way, having been drawn against Neil Young in the only quarter-final.
He was on the brink of defeat when Neil ran out of time. Further wins over Tony Walters and Ian Preston saw Ian to victory.
18/01/09: Simonetta and Stuart into clock final
The first ever Clock Tournament Grand Prix event on Thursday at the BCSC drew an entry of eighteen players.
Both finals were held over, clearly demonstrating that orthodox time allowances (2 minutes per point per player with 12 seconds delay) should be ample for anyone.
In the main flight Simonetta Herrera continued with her fine early year form to reach the final, where she will meet Stuart Mann.
Meanwhile, Gaz Owen and Tony Walters shrugged off the disappointment of early elimination from the main by progressing to the consolation final.
An off the cuff decision was made before the tournament to go for a clock tournament version of the Winner Takes All pool. As all four semi-finalists had opted for this, a four way split was done.
There was league action, too, with Steve Morris defeating Marcus Wrinch in Premier Two Blue, while Blaine Buchanan was beating Phillip Hill in Premier Two Red.
And before the tournament Simon Hughes defeated Stuart in the outstanding consolation final from last week's monthly grand prix tournament.
14/01/09: Bristol players at the Bright 'n' Breezy
BIBA's Bright 'n' Breezy tournament at the weekend was attended by a few Bristol connected players, but sadly there are no flight wins to report.
Paul Gilbertson and former Premier League player Tony Lee got as far as the quarter-finals in the 82-strong main flight field, while Marcus Wrinch and Ed Turner were runners-up in the 5-point Last Chance and 3-point Tidal Wave respectively.
Tony also won the Saturday night poker, while Marcus was defeated in the final of the Friday warm-up tournament by Peter Bennet.
Winner of the tournament -- always one of the best attended in the UK calendar -- was Londoner John Hurst. Incredibly this was his third win in the last four years of this event!
09/01/09: Best wishes to Juanita
Bristol's backgammon players joined forces last night to send flowers and best wishes to Wiltshire, where Juanita Ferrer has been unwell in hospital.
Latest word is that she is on the mend, and will hopefully be home again soon.
09/01/09: JANUARY GRAND PRIX NEWS ......
Twenty-two players contested the opening Bristol Grand Prix tournament of the year at the BCSC on Thursday, while a further player got in a league match.
09/01/09: Steve takes early OGP lead ......
Seldom has a draw been so emphatically skewed.
Not only were the majority of the more strongly fancied contenders in one half of the draw, they were also in the longest part of the draw.
A glance at the unofficial Bristol rankings before the tournament would have revealed that fifteen of the top 30 in Bristol were present, but only two were amongst the eight players in the bottom half of the draw.
The other thirteen were contained in the fourteen in the bottom half!
Steve Morris took the unusual (for him) step of entering the Winner Takes All pool, which had been boosted by a £100 rollover from December, and it turned out to be a sound investment as he powered through to the final after overcoming Simon Hughes, Richard Owsley and Simon Temme.
In the final he will meet the winner of the outstanding semi-final between Simonetta Herrera and Peter Edwards, which is scheduled for Thursday 22nd.
Their presence in the semis ensures that there will be no double rollover for February's tournament.
For the moment at least, Steve has the lead in the OGP.
09/01/09: Chris loses but is IGP leader ......
Chris Roberts was the only intermediate to turn up for yesterday's tournament, so by default he has the IGP lead.
Chris was unable to add to his 10 points for entering, but never was the phrase "you have to be in it to win it" more appropriate.
Today he stands proudly at the head of an IGP table containing just one player!
09/01/09: Simonetta registers Premier One's first 2009 win ......
There was just one league match played last night, when Simonetta Herrera played Dave Pym before the start of the tournament.
And her 11-5 win makes her the first leader of this year's Premier One table, followed by the other players who have paid their entry money!
05/01/09: Gaz and Simonetta share the spoils at 2009's opening session
The first Bristol Backgammon session of the year at the BCSC saw eight players contesting a pair of Clock Blitz Round Robins as the opener to the Monday Club Spring Grand Prix competition.
Simonetta Herrera won one pool, while Gaz Owen took the other, so the pair share the early lead.
03/01/09: League season starts in Stonehouse
The Woolpack, Stonehouse, was the venue for the first action of the 2009 Bristol Premier League this afternoon.
Martin Hemming defeated Mike Smith twice in Premier Two Red in a highly satisfactory start to his campaign for an instant return to the top flight.
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